GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — It was another week of wins for the Detroit Tigers. The Motor City Kitties went 5-1 last week, sweeping the Red Sox at home before taking two of three close games in Toronto.

It’s becoming old hat at this point. The Tigers are one of the best teams in baseball.

MLB.com’s Will Leitch said it effortlessly in his latest power rankings, listing the Tigers as the second-best team in the league.

“No team, and no fanbase, in the entire sport is having more fun than the Tigers are right now. They were the first team to reach 30 wins this year, they have the best run differential in baseball and they are scoring like crazy,” Leitch wrote.

At 31-16, they have the best record in the league and the second-best run differential (87: 253 runs scored, 166 runs allowed). They have a 5-game lead in the American League Central, and that’s with the Twins going on a 13-game winning streak.

And the Toronto season helped show it’s no fluke, because it takes truly great teams to consistently win close games. Each of the Tigers’ previous five games have been decided by one run, and they won four of them.

Javy Baez and Justyn-Henry Malloy walked off the Red Sox to close out the series at Comerica Park. Jack Flaherty had a solid bounce-back start and the bullpen and defense held on for a 5-4 win on Friday. The Blue Jays rallied late to take Saturday’s game, but Jackson Jobe ground out six tough innings on Sunday and the bullpen was rock solid, allowing Spencer Torkelson’s 3 RBIs to stand in the 3-2 win.

ROSTER CRUNCH?

The Tigers face a legitimate roster crunch in the coming days. Matt Vierling may return to the Tigers this week, and Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez are likely only a week or two behind him.

Vierling has been rehabbing with Triple-A Toledo for more than a week. Perez started an assignment with the West Michigan Whitecaps over the weekend and Meadows is likely to join the Mud Hens later this week.

When all three are healthy, the Tigers will have to demote a contributing player. Let’s start with the outfield. Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene aren’t going anywhere. Incredibly, neither is Javy Baez, who is one of the team’s hottest hitters and has proven to be a natural in center field. And Zach McKinstry is a super-utility player and is doing more than enough at the plate to cement his spot.

So who does that leave? Akil Baddoo is a safe bet to be sent down. Despite some incredible defense on Sunday, he hasn’t had the opportunity to show he deserves a spot over the three returnees. Malloy could be another. His batting average is poor, but he gets on base. His .354 on-base percentage is actually third-best on the team. But he’s not known for his defense and has options.

Honestly, the third is probably Perez. He had a hot start last year but was fairly pedestrian down the stretch. Between Greene, Carpenter, Baez, Vierling, Meadows and McKinstry, they don’t need him for the outfield rotation, and Andy Ibanez is a more fitting defensive replacement on the infield.

A.J. Hinch’s roster flexibility gives him a lot of options for in-game moves and for a lot of questions for a team suddenly full of talent.

CURLY FRIES!

The Tigers bats aren’t the only ones eating this season. Tiger fans are, too. Arby’s is taking a hit with its free curly fries offer.

Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks have made the curly fries offer a fun bit in their FanDuel Sports Network broadcasts. Fans can get a free small order of curly fries the day after the Tigers score three or more runs.

So far, they have done that in 12 of their 16 games in May and in 38 of 47 games so far this season.

UP NEXT

The Tigers continue their road trip with a three-game series in St. Louis (26-21). The Red Birds have been red hot. They just took two of three in Kansas City and have won 11 of their last 13 games.

After that, the Tigers return home for a seven-game homestand, including a key four-game series against Cleveland (15-21). The Guardians have had a bit of a rough stretch lately. They were swept by the Reds and have gone 4-6 over their last 10 games.

And before they get to Detroit, they have to head to Minnesota, who just had its 13-game win streak snapped on Sunday.